San Diego  What started over wine with a mission to distribute winter survival backpacks to the homeless four years ago has evolved into an organization working to empower those on the street.

Girls Think Tank, a grass-roots advocacy group, successfully worked last year to convince city officials to set aside $700,000 for four public toilets for the homeless. The toilets are slated to go up next fall.

The successful campaign for the relatively young nonprofit along with the popularity of its signature winter survival backpacks, given to the homeless complete with blankets and hygienic products, has GTT leaders looking forward.

“With time, I would like to see us opening a community center that would be a space for people on the streets to collaborate and get needed resources,” said Rachel Jensen, co-founder and president of GTT.

The organization’s work has been noticed around the city, especially among agencies that work with the homeless.

“Any groups that are working toward policy issues that help the homeless folks are great,” said Kyla Winters, chief development officer for The Alpha Project. “On the policy front, they have been amazing. They are people we really respect.”

The Regional Task Force reported last year that 8,500 people are homeless in San Diego County, an increase of 7.8 percent from the previous year.

Now that the bathroom campaign is stamped a success, the group is in transition mode, said Noor Kazmi, GTT secretary. Its website is being revamped, the board is looking for a staff person and this week’s monthly meeting will discuss possible next projects. While homelessness is GTT’s core issue, the group is also turning its attention to domestic violence against women.

“Our mission is to identify human dignity issues and work within the community to alleviate those,” Kazmi said. “It started out as the Girls Think Tank because it was founded by a group of women who were friends but has evolved more into a human rights organization.”

About 50 to 70 volunteers participate with GTT, nearly half of whom are homeless themselves, Kazmi said. GTT has distributed more than 1,200 backpacks since it started in 2006, Kazmi said.

The organization’s meeting Thursday is at 655 Broadway. Planning is under way for the annual fundraiser set for April.

The key, the women say, is that the organization is focused on empowering the homeless or other individuals it seeks to help. A survey of the homeless was used to identify that access to toilets was a top priority.

The group aims to use this model to find its next big project.

All of this came to be because of an anonymous homeless man in Point Loma. Jensen may have been the catalyst for GTT, but that homeless man she passed every day was her inspiration.

“I would bring him food and water, but he was still there, homeless and alone no matter,” she said. “It started to get under my skin, and sometimes he was the first thought I had in the morning when I woke up.”

Unsure what to do, Jensen called a group of women together to hash it out, and the nonprofit was born.